With a state tournament berth on the line, Norwalk hosts conference rival Pella tonight in a Class 4A girls basketball regional final at 7:00 p.m. 

The fourth-ranked Warriors are seeking to clinch the program’s first trip to state since 2007, and to do so, they must beat the No. 13 Dutch for the third time this season. Norwalk dominated the first Little Hawkeye Conference meeting in early December, winning 70-35. The rematch in Pella was much closer, with the Warriors using five Payton Travis 3-pointers to prevail 62-48.

Norwalk enters the contest with a 21-1 overall record while the Dutch are 16-7. Warriors’ coach Joe Sigrist tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that there will always be adversity in a regional final – be it foul trouble or cold shooting – but he trusts his team’s defense to get critical stops and force turnovers. Sigrist adds that the Warriors must play with confidence and stay focused.

“No matter what happens, we need to make sure we stay within the moment, have that ‘next play’ mentality that we talk about all the time, and if we do that… I think we’ll enjoy the outcome on Tuesday night.”

Tonight’s game will be streamed live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3) and is also available on 92.1 KRLS. Pregame coverage on KNIA3 will begin at approximately 6:40.